Rubber band shooter



Sept. 9, 1941. J. R HEMINGER RUBBER BAND SHOOTER Filed Oct. 10, 1958 i790]? I INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

v 2 Sheets-Sheet l o5 E [a], Zbflem Sept. 9, 1941.

J. R. HEMINGER RUBBER BAND SHOOTER IN VEN TOR.

' A TTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 9, 1941 UNITED s1 res Pars FHQ E 4 Claims.

This invention has,.among its objects, the provision of a piece forshooting rubber bands, the construction being such that the movable parts are quickly restored to their normal positions by inherent forces supplied by elastic members, after said movable parts are temporarily drawn out of said normal positions by extraneous forces. A second object is to provide a toy of simple and inexpensive design whose parts are easily accessible and cheap to replace. A third object is to provide a trigger-and-hammer mechanism of novel form and utility, including simple and effective means for stopping, without shock, the forward movement of the upper portion of the hammer when said hammer is caused to swing on its pivot.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve, generally, and to enhance the utility of rubber band shooters of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in View, as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that alterations in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made, within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows, in side elevation, a hand shooter constructed in accordance with the invention, parts being broken away, and the device being set to shoot a rubber band;

Fig. 2 is a top plan of the band shooter de lineated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1, the parts being in the positions which they will occupy whilst the rubber band projectile is being shot;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line l-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation showing a modified embodiment of the invention, parts being broken away;

Fig. 7 is a top plan of the band shooter shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the band shooter depicted in Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a fragmental longitudinal section showing, as a modification, a laminated body construction.

In Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawings, there is shown a shooting piece constructed in accordance with the invention. The term shooting piece is employed-to give notice of the fact that the device neednot necessarily be of the pistol form shown.

The shooting piece comprises a body, denoted generally by the numeral 1, including a stock or grip 2 and a barrel 3. In this particular group of illustrations, there is shown an extension 4 of the body, a little to the rear of the stock or grip 2, this extension being merely incidental to the particular form shown, of the shooting piece. The extension 4 is provided with an upstanding projection 5, which may be considered to be a part of the body.

A slot 6 is formed in the main part of the body l, immediately to therear of the barrel 3, and extends downwardly into the grip 2, the slot opening through the forward edge of the grip 2, and through the upper edge of the body I. The slot 6 has a lower, forwardly prolonged extension 1. The part of the body I which defines the upper rear limit of the slot 6, forms a stop it]. In the upper edge of the body, a little forward of the hammer l9, there is shown a notch l i, which may be considered as marking the rear extremity of the barrel .3. This notch H .is declared to be an important feature of the form of the shooting piece depicted by Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the drawings, as will be brought out in the explanation hereafter.

The notch I I is placed in a position with a certain relation to the hammer i9, and is cut to a suitable depth so that the elastic belt H, which it is designed to retain, shall be held in the circular path of the upper part of the hammer 19. The upper and front part of the slot .6 is prolonged forward a little past notch H, forming a recess into which hammer Hi can be partially depressed when it is drawn to its extreme forward position. The solid part of the body I, however, which defines the bottom of this recess, designated by the numeral I8, is designed to be a little lower than the bottom of notch H, for reasons to become apparent as the description proceeds.

The forward end of the barrel 3 is supplied with a retainer or notch 2'5, from which the pro- J'ectile band 26 is stretched back to and around the retainer finger 23 of the hammer is, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The numeral 12 designates a trigger, extended upwardly into the slot 6 and mounted for swinging movement on a pivot member I, carried by the rear portion of the body I. The trigger I2 is shaped and mounted with a certain relation to the hammer l9, so that the shoulder or sear [5, cut into the upper edge of trigger 12, shall engage a complementary shoulder 2|, shaped in the hammer l9, when said hammer J9 isat ape v the interlocking of its shoulder 2i shoulder or sear I of the trigger I2.

proximately its rearmost position. The trigger I2 is provided with a forwardly presented arm movable parts as to restrict their movements,

with but one exception.

This one exception is the aforementioned stop II), which determines the rearmost or normal position of the hammer I9, as shown by Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The position of the hammer I9 is well back in relation to the main body I, so that the projectile band 26 will have full advantage of most of the length of the shooting piece. The hammer I9 is placed partly within the slot 6 but protrudes above the main body I and is mounted on a pivot element 26 so that the upper portion of the hammer I 9 may be swung forward and backward through an are, determined by its pivot element 2!), and whose extremes are determined by stop It at the rear and by the part of elastic belt I1,

at the front, which rests in notch I I and across slot 6.

From the foregoing it will be evident that one of the functions of the elastic member 11 'is to serve as a cushion to haltthe forward swing of the hammer IS, as will be apparent by reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings. It will also be manifest why the solid portion I8 of the body I is below the bottom of notch II and, therefore,

clear of the part of elastic member I! whichserves as a stopping cushion for the hammer I9.

Figure 5 of the drawings illustrates how the elastic belt I! passes across the main body I and, incidentally, across slot 6 at the position determined by notch II, from where it passes down and under the aforementioned arm I6 of the trigger I 2. By providing an elastic belt I? of proper tension, which is not critical, it will be" seen that trigger I2 will be drawn upward when the hammer I9 is in its rearmost position and held thus until displaced by the finger of the operator.

against the stop I6, and the elastic member I? has drawn the forward arm I6 of the trigger I2 upward into the recess 7, so that the shoulder or sear I5 of the trigger I2 has interlocked with the shoulder 2I of the hammer I9. The numeral 26 designates the aforementioned projectile band which is stretched back from the retainer notch 21, at the muzzle, to pass around the retainer finger 23 of the hammer I9, in which condition it may be held so long as the hammer I9 is prevented from swinging on its pivot element 26 by with the It will now be evident that when the operator 1 presses the finger piece of the trigger I2, said 1' trigger will swing on its pivot element 14 so that the shoulder I5 will disengage from theshoulder ger 36.

against the stop I0a, rather than the correspond- Referring to Fig. 1 of'the drawings, the elastic member 25 has swung the hammer I9 backward 2| and permit the hammer I9 to swing on its pivot element 20. Thereupon, the tension of the projectile band 26 will cause the hammer I9 to be drawn forward, despite the slight tension of elastic member 25, and the upper part of the hammer I9 will describe an arc until the angle of the retaining finger 23 has changed to permit the projectile band 26 to slip free and to hurl itself away from the shooting piece in the well 1 known manner of elastic bands. The position of 'all parts of the mechanism at this stage of operation is depicted by Fig. 3 of the drawings.

When the projectile band 26 has slipped free of the retaining finger 23, the tension of the elastic member 25 will cause the hammer I9 to be quickly drawn back to its rearmost position against stop Ill, and when the operator releases the trigger I2, shoulders I5 and 2| will again interlock and a cycle will have been completed, ready for another projectile band to be stretched into place. From the description of this cycle, it will be obvious that the mechanism is selfcocking.

In Figs. 6, '7 and 8, parts hereinbefore described have been designated by numerals already used, with the suffix a. The upper portion of the trigger [2a extends out of the upper part of the slot 6a. In the upper or rear end of the trigger I2a there is a notch 28, forming a forward projection or finger 29 and a rear projection or fin- Itis the projection 30 that comes to rest ing part of the hammer I9 in Fig. 1. The band Ha of Fig. 6 corresponds to the band I! of Fig. 1, in that it is the means whereby the trigger I2a is swung upwardly until its shoulder I5a. engages with the shoulder 2Ia of the hammer Mia. The resilient band 25a is engaged with the-part 22a and, in that respect, the form shown in Fig, 6 is like the form shown in Fig, 1. The band 25a, however, is engaged with the projection 29 of the trigger I2a, rather than with the upstanding body projection of Fig. 1. The band H0, is engaged with the rearward extension 4a of the body Ia and with the projection or finger 36 of the trigger I2a.

The operation of the shooting piece shown in Fig. 6 diifers so little from the operation of the shooting piece shown in Fig. 1 that a description of the operation of the form shown in Fig. 6 is believed to be unnecessary.

Figures 4 and 5 indicate that the body I is made of one piece of material, for example wood. Figure 9, however, shows that the body may be made of any desired numberof layers 3|, if a laminated construction is desired. In Fig. 9, parts hereinbefore described have been designated by numerals already used, with the sufiix b.

Although the elastic band 25a of Fig. 6 is anchored for convenience on the part 29 of the trigger I2a, the band does not serve the trigger. in any way. Clearly, the band 25a has no function as a means for returning the trigger I2a to set position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A shooting piece for discharging a resilient band projectile, comprising a body and a hammer mounted to swing on the body, the hammer constituting means for retaining a resilient band projectile stretched on the body for discharge and for releasing said projectile when said hammer is allowed to swing on its pivot, a trigger mounted to swing on the body, the trigger constituting means for retaining said hammer in cocked posi-.

tion and for releasing said hammer to swing on its pivot, and an elastic band passing around the main body and engaging said trigger so as to draw and hold said trigger in cocked position until said trigger is operated to release said hammer, the last specified elastic band being interposed partially in the path of the hammer, to act as a resilient cushion to stop said hammer in its forward movement.

2. A shooting piece for discharging a resilient band projectile, comprising a body and a hammer mounted to swing on the body, the hammer constituting means for retaining a resilient band projectile stretched on the body for discharge and for releasing said projectile when said hammer is allowed to swing on its pivot, a trigger mounted to swing on the body, the trigger constituting means for retaining said hammer in cocked position and for releasing said hammer to swing on its pivot, and an elastic band passing around the main body and engaging said trigger so as to draw and hold said trigger in cocked position until said trigger is operated to release said hammer, the elastic band which engages the trigger and passes around the main body being also interposed partially in the path of the hammer for cushioning said hammer at its extreme forward position, and. an elastic band engaging said hammer and other convenient member of said shooting piece and constituting means for returning said hammer to cocked position, all of said elastic bands being easily accessible for renewal from without the body.

3. A shooting piece for discharging resilient band projectiles, comprising a body and a hammer mounted to swing on the body, the hammer constituting means for retaining a resilient band projectile stretched on the body for discharge, a trigger mounted to swing on the body and constituting means for retaining the hammer cooked, and an elastic band extended around the body and the trigger, to form a return spring for the trigger, the last-specified band being interposed partially in the path of the hammer, to serve as a hammer cushion when the piece is discharged, the body having a notch in its upper edge, receiving said last-specified band and spacing it from contact with a projectile band which is stretched as aforesaid.

4. A shooting piece for discharging rubber bands, comprising a band-retaining hammer, a trigger cooperating with the hammer, and a resilient member engaged With the trigger in trigger-returning position and comprising a cushioning portion disposed in the path of the hammer as the hammer moves to band-releasing position.

JOEL ROBERT HEMINGER. 

